Richard of San Germano

RICHARD OF SAN GERMANO. - Author of a Chronica that survives in two redactions which complete each other.

The first, interrupted at 1226, begun by commission of the monks of Montecassino, was supposed to be merely the continuation of the Annales casinenses, which reached 1212, and had as its center the history of the monastery within the framework of the events of the Kingdom. The second, written by the notanda notans notarius who entered the service of Emperor Frederick II, has instead as its subject the history of the Kingdom, in itself and for itself, of which R. feels and proclaims himself a son, and it goes back to the death of William II, the ideal and perfect type of sovereign, and breaks off at 1243, the year of R.'s death. The chronicle, written in the two redactions with equal diligence, precision and honesty, and interspersed with Latin rhythmic poems by R. himself, is the surest guide for knowledge of the history of Frederick II and of the Neapolitan provinces, thanks to the experience the author had of public life and to his ability to be well informed through personal and direct knowledge or through documents of an official character, which he willingly inserts into the chronicle: papal and imperial letters or legislative texts, such as the Assizes of Capua and of Messina.

Gina Fasoli